Lent - the time when our pianist/choir leader tells me he is going to drag out his dreary anthems.  Solemn maybe, dreary, never.

Just for a change this year, and because the Christian Aid thing doesn't cover Sundays explicitly, I've decided to post a Lenten hymn from BPW each Sunday... at least that way six of them will get wider  airing!

Today I've opted for one I don't know very well, but which is based on the temptations of Jesus:

When he was baptized in Jordan
Jesus knew his chosen role:
Ready now for time of testing
In the desert of the soul.

Starved of bread to feed the body,
Starved of rest to feed the brain,
Starved of friends to feed the spirit,
Jesus daily bore the strain.

During six long weeks of trial,
Evil masquerades as good:
Points false roads to instant lordship,
Tempts him with the Word of God.

He attacks the great impostor:
Evil shall not win this day!
Ready now to serve his calling,
Sets his face Jerusalem way.

On the hour of our temptation,
As we meet each vital choice,
Make us wise and make us willing,
Lord of life, to heed your voice.

Bernard Braley (1924-2003) © 1979 Stainer & Bell Ltd & The Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
8.7.8.7. Trochaic set tune in BPW Charlestown

Busy Sunday for us - morning worship than Church Meeting - so better stop blogging and get there!

It's the weekend, so Christian Aid give us time off for good behaviour, or some such!

Adults

If you don’t know your legal rights, you can’t defend them. In São Paulo, Brazil, tens of thousands of
people live in unsafe housing. Those who complain to their landlords risk immediate eviction. Christian
Aid partner Gaspar Garcia runs a human rights centre where tenants can go to receive free legal advice and to join forces with others in a similar situation to demand change and to face their landlords together.

How many of your human rights can you name? Give 10p for each one.

Children

Did you know that children have speical rights? That means there are certain things that adults have to make sure children have; like somewhere safe to live and the chance to see a doctor if they are sick. The good news is that all children also have the right to play! But, at the moment, there are many children around the world who don’t have time to play because they have to work.

Give 10p for every different game you play this weekemd

A very long time ago, as part of my Girls' Brigade Queen's Award I had to read chunks of the International Declaration of Human Rights, with speical reference to the rights of children.  To my shame that part of my memory is very, very rusty.  Rights I can recall are, in no particular order...

basic education

safety

food and shelter

basic healthcare

freedom of movement

At 10p each that comes to a mere 50p.  Look here for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and see just what is enshrined in its principles.  Quite sobering.

My pledge

Today - 50p

Total - £8 plus one prayer of thanksgiving

It has been a lovely day today.  A couple of meetings this morning, one involving decent coffee, the other peppermint tea, then a quick flip round the supermarket to get bits I need for Sunday's all age bit and home to protoype.  All looking good, that's all I'm saying for now.

Adults

Illiteracy affects more than 120 million young people globally, compounding the disadvantages they face
in life.

Give 20p for each favourite childhood book you can still recall well.

Youch!  That's an expensive one.  How 'well' is 'well' I wonder?

OK, cunning plan - post live, allow myself two minutes (timed) to type names of books I loved as a child...

Heidi

The Secret Garden

A Little Princess

Jane Eyre

Black Beauty

Ballet Shoes

What Katy Did/Did next

Anne of Green Gables

Malory Towers series (6)

St Clare's series (6)

Swallows and Amazons series (12)

Tom Brown's Schooldays

Beauty and the Beast (Ladybird)

Rapunzel (Ladybird)

Rumpelstiltskin (Ladybird)

Yikes!  That's 36 books... @ 20p each so £7.20

Had I allowed myself longer I could easily have doubled that list... makes me realise just how fortunate I am to have grown up where I did, with access to so many books.

My pledge

Today - £7.20

Total - £7.50 plus one prayer of thanksgiving

PS... how could I have missed The Railway Children, one of the books I've read over and over...?

Day 2 - "Give thanks and praise for your education and for the doors it has opened for you professionally and personally."

"Thank you"

I recall a story told many, many years ago, when I was about seven, attending the MHA Sunny Smiles 'Festival of Queens'.  It was an event where Sunday School and youth organisations brought the money they had raised by 'selling' Sunny Smiles, photos of children who lived in MHA homes, to help raise funds for the charity.  The event was basically a service (I have vivid memories of lustily singing 'Go tell it on the mountain') with a talk about the work of MHA.  It ran roughly thus, a little girl in one of the homes was writing a letter and asked the house-mother how to spell "kyou".  The woman paused and said 'what kind of kyou?  Do you mean like a bus queue?  Or do you mean like a snooker cue?'  No, the little girl replied, I am writing a letter to the person who sent me the toys and I want to say 'than kyou'.

Thank you, God,

That someone thought it important enough to teach children to read and write

That someone thought such education should be freely available

That someone derived schemes for teaching literacy and numeracy

That someone taught me sounds with flashcards

That Dick and Dora, Fluff and Rover saw me onto the path of knowledge

Thank you, God,

That, even if the 1970s were the nadir of English education,

I had access to free musical instrument lessons

I was taught by some excellent and inspiring teachers

I was able to choose subjects that interested and fulfilled my thirst for learning

Thank you, God,

That I was able to study for a first degree, not once, but twice

That libraries were full of appropriate texts

Labs well equipped, placements carefully selected

That I was, and am, able to continue to study and learn

And all because

A long time ago

Someone thought it important to teach children to read

Thank you God,

For my education and all it has given me,

Not just the bits of paper, nice though they are

Not just the career opportunities, fulfilling as they may be

But the entrance into the world of learning and discovering

That would otherwise be impossible.